Home Buyer and Seller Trends
Information courtesy of the National Association of Realtors.
The National Association of Realtors released a cumulative study on the 2015 Home Buyer and Seller Trends this past March, we’ve included the highlights below.
Some major sections included in the study are “Characteristics of Home Buyers,” “The Home Search Process,” “Financing the Home Purchase” and “Home Sellers and Their Selling Experience.”
“Fixed monthly payments and the longterm financial stability homeownership can provide are attractive to young adults despite [their] witnessing the housing downturn,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. Yun says the share of millennial purchases would likely be higher if not for a these four factors: underemployment, subpar wage growth, rising rents, and student debt. All four make it difficult to save for a down payment, he says. “For some, even forming households of their own has been a challenge.”
HIGHLIGHTS
Gen Y comprises the largest share of home buyers at 32 percent, which is larger than all Baby Boomers combined.
Gen Y also has the largest share of first time buyers at 68 percent.
Thirteen percent of all buyers purchased a multi-generational home, one in which the home consists of adult children over the age of 18, and/or grandparents residing in the home.
At least 80 percent of buyers who are aged 59 and younger bought a detached single family home, while it is increasingly common for buyers over the age of 59 to purchase townhouses and condos.
The older the home buyer, the fewer compromises the buyer tended to make with their home purchase—48 percent of the Silent Generation made no compromises on their home purchase.
Among all generations of home buyers, the first step in the home buying process is looking online for properties for sale.
Younger generations of buyers typically find the home they purchase through the internet, while older generations of buyers first found the home they purchased through their real estate agent.
Read the annual report for home transactions that offers data for buyer and seller characteristics, the search process, home financing, and more. Content for this post was created by the National Association of REALTORS.
